Cal State Northridge
Josh Jenkins is a great passer who has the opportunity to be a top assist point-guard in the nation, according to head coach Bobby Braswell ... Has great instincts, and knows how to play the game ... Josh is an all-league caliber team, who enjoyed an excellent season last year in gaining all-league honors ... Does so many things well on the floor ... Josh will be asked again to be the quarterback of the Matadors team in 2008-09 ... Josh did an outstanding job in handling those responsibilities at the point-guard position in his first season with Cal State Northridge last year.
2007-08 Season (Junior)
An Honorable Mention All-Big West selection ... Led the Matadors in assists (191, 6.4 apg, #1 in the Big West, #3 for a single season at CSUN, #9 in the nation) and fourth in scoring (10.5 ppg) ... Voted the Dr. Dish Award by the coaches ... Jenkins became the first Matador since Markus Carr (2001-02, 5.3 apg) to win the conference assist title ... Dished out ten or more assists in five games ... Against Cal State Bakersfield (11/21/07), dished out 12 assists (#1 in the Big West this year) along with eleven points (3-for-5 from behind the arc) ... The 12 assists were three short of the school record ... Led the team in assists in 24 of the 30 games ... Tallied eleven assists and three steals at Cal Poly (1/3/08) ... Dished out eleven assists along with eleven points and three steals vs Pacific (1/12/08) ... Dished out eleven assists vs Long Beach State (1/26/08) ... Collected a double-double with 14 points and 10 assists vs Vanguard (12/20/07) ... Scored a career-high 23 points vs Rider (2/23/08) ... Collected 18 points along with seven assists and a career-high six steals against UC Riverside (2/16/08) ... Tallied 17 points (4-for-4 from three-point territory) along with five assists in 26 minutes of play at Washington (12/22/07) ... Chalked up 15 points along with six assists and four steals in 22 minutes off the bench in CSUN's 97-89 victory at Pepperdine (11/17/07) ... Collected a team-leading 49 steals (1.6 spg) this year, third-best in the league ... Second in the Big West in assist/turnover ratio (1.62).
Frank Phillips College
Chalked up very impressive offensive numbers as a point guard at Frank Phillips College in Borger, Tx ... A junior college All-American during the 2006-07 season in leading his team in scoring (18.7 ppg) ... Also led the team in three-point field goal percentage (45 percent, 62-for-138), assists (227, 9.1 apg, #3 in the nation), steals (53, 2.1 spg), field goals (158), free throws (89) and free throw attempts (128) ... Helped lead the team to a 21-9 record, and a conference title with a 13-3 mark ... In the regular season finale against national junior college champion Midland College, Josh scored a career-high 40 points (14-for-29 from the floor, 9-for-10 from the free throw line) along with nine assists, three steals and one block ... Tallied eleven double-doubles (points-assists) during his sophomore season ... That included efforts of 32 points and 15 assists against Clarendon College, 32 points and eleven assists against Garden City College, 27 points and 14 assists against New Mexico Military Institutte, and two games in which he chaked up 27 points and ten assists ... In one game against Western Texas College, Josh hit 9-of-15 shots from the floor, including 6-of-7 shots from behind the arc ... Against New Mexico Institute, Jenkins had a season-high seven steals ... Obtained his AA Degree in 2007.
New Mexico State
Began his collegiate career at New Mexico State (2004-05) where he started 21 of 30 games as a freshman ... Averaged 10.1 ppg (third-best on the Aggies), dished out a team-leading 105 assists, and also led the team in three-point field goal percentage (.431, 59-for-137) ... Also led the team in free throw percentage (.797, 55-for-69) ... Also among the team leaders in steals (28).
Valley High School
A standout guard at Valley High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico ... Named first team All-State after a superb senior season that saw Jenkins lead the state of New Mexico in points (28.0 ppg) and assists (8.4 apg) per game ... Also named first team All-Metro conference and All-District 1-5A, while receiving Player of the Year awards for the conference and the district ... Graduated in 2004.
Matador Memo
Born July 16, 1986 in Oakland, Calif. ... Parents are Rita Joyce Santiago and Richard Jenkins ... His stepfather is Hunter Greene ... Has two brothers (Damian who is 30, and Richard Jr. who is 6) and a sister, Nina, who is 14 ... A huge fan of NBA All-Star Allen Iverson ... Enjoys the movies, including Young Guns, and admires the acting of Al Pacino, Salma Hayek and Penelope Cruz ... Favorite food includes crab legs ... Chose Cal State Northridge because it's a great school and the coaches are also great ... Plus, he says the school is close to Los Angeles and the celebrities ... Listed his biggest thrill was when he scored 40 points against Midland College to help Frank Phillips College win the conference championship in 2006-07 ... His pre-game ritual includes praying to his late mom to watch over him, and to point to her in the sky ... His biggest obstacle he has had to overcome is the reality of his mother's passing ("She was my everything") ... When away from the rigors of school work and practice, Josh says he plays Madden 081 ... Says the game of basketball could be improved by lowering the basket to 7 1/2 feet so that everybody can dunk ... His superstitions include walking under a ladder and losing at Madden ... The most famous person he has met is Adam Sandler ... He would most like to be stranded on an island with plenty of food, TV, and P53 (Madden) ... Would feed poor children if he had a million dollars ... The best advice he ever received was "if at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again ... His advice to young people is to stay in school, and good things will happen ... If a movie were made about his life, Will Smith would play the role of Josh Jenkins ... He says he can't imagine going a week without reading and playing video games ... Says his greatest hero is Hunter Greene (stepfather) because he was raised by Hunter and taught him the game basketball and about the game of life ... Pan African Studies major.